


Hidden Agenda

by Secrettheorist22



Category: Original Work
Genre: Drowning, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Rescue, Revenge, Stealing, Trust Issues, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:47:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25960795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Secrettheorist22/pseuds/Secrettheorist22
Summary: Avery has finally gotten the call she has waited years for. Finally she gets the chance to reconnect with something that means more to her than anyone know. Will she keep it a secret or will she trust the ones that say they love her for help?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Hidden Agenda

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts:
> 
> What is it? What are you seeing?  
> Drowning  
> A suddenly becomes distant, B can’t understand why.

It wasn’t abnormal for Avery to pour herself into her work. Once she found a new target, she made it her life’s work to achieve her goals, but this time it was different. She stayed up all night, when dinner was ready, she fixed a plate then ate in her office. Nathan didn’t even know what she was researching so hard, she wouldn’t even spare him a moment to talk about it. Harper had even noticed her efforts into working night and day, passing off things to her that could be delegated. She would gladly do it, but it was unlike Avery to blow off her regular 9-5 for a job for one of her ‘hobbies’.

One night Nathan caught her fast asleep at her desk and eased himself into the room. She had just made a fresh cup of coffee and as she drooled all over the blueprints to some building. He couldn’t make out which building but he knew if she already had that she was planning a heist.

Avery stirred after a long moment of him trying to decipher her intentions and he stilled. He knew he had been caught but instead she let her cup go and moved to rest her head into her arms, falling fast asleep again. Nathan smiled getting caught up in just her but then shook it off going back to the mission at hand. _A printing museum? What’s is there to steal at a place like that?_ He picked up a list of letters and number like a file system. She had three crossed off and one circled. He had no idea what she was planning but she was going into a lot of detail. That wasn’t like her, she was more of a fly by the seat of your pants type.

Nathan sat the paper down and sighed softly before covering her up with a nearby blanket. Something was up with her and he was going to figure it out.

[…]

Avery had gotten the call she had been waiting for, for years. She honestly thought she would never get it, and what she longed to have back would be forever gone.

When she answered the man gave her a simple name of a museum in California, a printing museum no less, and the name of a donor. She didn’t really have an interest for the donor really but it did help her know exactly what he did donate.

She got straight to work after that, calling contacts even sending someone with a cover wanting to become a major donor over there. She’d go herself but She didn’t trust anyone to know she was up to something.

Nathan had been amazing since he swapped sides but the deal was they never stole anything for personal gain. She had always lived with that code, but not this time, this time I was purely for herself.

Part of her told herself that he would understand, but the other half willed her not to trust him, not with this. It was way too important to her, so important Harper didn’t even know about it, and she never would.

She poured all her time into researching, planning, sending guys that worked for her that never asked questions to go on supply runs. Everything that didn’t require her attention she focused on that museum and the mysteries it hid. She had names, records, dates, invoices, everything she could get legally or otherwise on that donor’s items. She knew the museum frontwards and back as well.

Sleepless nights, skipped meals, hell she even lost track of personal hygiene with this mission. She knew her friends, her partners, would help her but she just didn’t trust them. Not with this.

[…]

When the sun rose the next day, it was noon and she had spilled her coffee all over the building’s schematics. Avery cursed herself as she frantically tried to clean what had already been there for a while. She even had coffee on her. She couldn’t believe she had been so careless, even if she had copies of everything.

At her curses Nathan poked his head in and watched her try to clean that mess, he even chuckled at the terrible job she was doing, “Fall asleep at the desk again?”

“Oh don’t give me that. I am _busy_. Don’t tell me you’ve never pulled all nighters when you were still a cop, or with the SAS. Coffee was also probably your drug of choice.” She snapped as she wadded it all up and threw it in the trash. She didn’t know why she was mad, it was probably the lack of sleep but still. “What are you even doing here? Don’t I pay you to actually work?”

He crossed his arms at that, “Correct me if I am wrong but you pay me to handle well you. You’ve blown me off for a week now and haven’t left except to me Marcus. What is he getting for you?”

Avery turned to him, “Following me now? What he gets me is _none_ of your concern. You are hired to be a bodyguard not a detective. So shut up and guard or whatever.”

Nathan took a step back at that and cocked his head, “What has gotten into you Avery? You miss meeting, decline calls, you haven’t showered in a week, and I know whatever you are Marcus get you it’s not legal.”

“No? what are you going to do? Report me? You _work_ for me.” Avery shook her head and grabbed her jacket off the rack by the door and her backpack, “I’m going out and you better not _follow_ me.” She snapped before shoving past him. She was pretty confident she could move now on the Museum, even in broad daylight it was vulnerable, that and two thousand miles away. She was going to need a plane, and a shower.

“What? You are kidding me right? You can’t just leave.” He said grabbing her arm, and she _knew_ he would do this. She paused and looked back at him as he removed his hand, “Avery, please let’s talk about whatever is going on. I am here for you, I can probably help you. Do you not trust me?”

She looked away at that. She did trust him, more than she’s trusted anyone in her life, just…not with this. “No, I don’t.”

Nathan’s face fell at the words and then he furrowed him brows and grabbed her before she could exit out the door, “Then you leave me no choice in finding out for my—”

As soon as he grabbed her, she reached into her bag pulling out her small gun she cared and fired it into his thigh. Nathan quickly let go at that and looked at her, “Y-you can’t be serrr—” 

She watched his eyes roll back in his head and his large muscled form crumble to the ground out cold. She reloaded the chamber of the pistol and put it back in her bag. “Sorry, but I said not to follow me.” With that she left him there to wake up in a few hours as she showered grabbed one of her several go-bags from a nondisclosed safehouse and hop on a plane to California.

She had a document to steal.

[…]

Once she was finally in California, she checked in to a nice hotel close to the museum and got a drink from the hotel bar when her phone rang. She looked to see it was Nathan for the fifth time and she popped the sim card out then dumped her phone in the Tequila Sunrise she was nursing. She paid off her tab and grabbed her purse before going to the museum to do the groundwork. She could look at blueprints all day but nothing could beat a visual intake of what she was getting herself into.

When she entered it was a pretty impressive museum, old printing presses, typewriters, even lines for Morse code. You could even use one of the presses, with help of course. Honestly this place was pretty neat she thought. _Kinda sad I am going to steal from this place._ She shrugged to herself and walked up to a massive typewriter display and set of wooden filing cabinets.

“You know back in the days when this came out it was as exciting as the phone. People could type faster than they could write, cleaner too.”

Avery listened as a staff member droned on about the things in the museum, only half listening. She honestly didn’t care what this stuff was used for, what she wanted was in one of those drawers, and she was going to have it.

[…]

As the sun set and the moon rose, she looked out across the city skyline. She always loved the view from rooftops, fresh air, open sky, and no people to bother you. It was like her own little world up there, then her watched beeped and she knew it was time to move.

She slipped the mask on to cover her face then went in through the backdoor. Their security was by far the easiest she’s dealt with in years. She figured it was because everything of real value here was not worth stealing, or too heavy to steal. She figured the latter.

Once she was in, she went straight to her target and pulled out her little flashlight and searched for the drawer she worked down to. She could hardly believe they had locks on these things, but they did. Locks were nothing to her though as she pulled out her picks and got to work, opening them in mere seconds. When she pulled it open there were all kinds of old papers in there. She had no clue what she was looking for. Avery wondered if she should grab it all but then she saw it, an off white envelope with a wax seal.

She picked it up and examined it closer, smiling hen she saw the initials ELC embedded in a lilac shade of purple. She couldn’t believe her eyes as she started to open it then stopped. _If I open this here…no I need a drink before I open this._ She nodded to herself and slipped the letter into her bag and closed the drawer locking it back. _A strong one._

Once Avery had safely gotten out she want straight to her hotel room to freshen up then grabbed the letter and went to the bar. She ordered a scotch and sat there looking at a while. She’d hold it up to the light, run her fingers over the wax, and take another sip then repeat. By her third drink, she finally took a breath and slid her fingers under the envelope lip and popped it open. Inside was an incredibly beautiful hand written letter. She was almost scared to read what I said, but that didn’t stop her.

Her eyes scanned over every word, across every line, and dotted every T. It was magical, but complete nonsense. Avery must have read it a million times before she gave up.

She ordered another round and slammed it back before the bartender could step away. She was furious, years of searching and she gets led to _this_ , utter nonsense? She was so mad she knocked over her next drink and spilled it all over the letter. “Dammit…why is nothing ever…” She swatted the barkeeps rag away as she picked the soaked letter to crumble up and throw away. She was just about to when the ink disappeared and a series of numbers appeared.

Avery stopped and held it in the light of that dim and depressed watering hole and laughed. “No fucking way.” She couldn’t believe it, coordinates.

[…]

Nathan woke a few hours after being drugged. Never did he think she would go to that length to keep him from trying to stop her. He cracked his eyes open to Harper reading a book at the foot of the couch by his feet. _How did she move me?_ He shook the thought away as he tried to sit up and adjust his position.

“Oh good you’re up.” She said slamming the book shut making him wince, he could tell she was angry. “You can tell me what the hell happened? I come home to find you blacked out in the floor and Avery no where to be found. Do you know how worried I am? She won’t answer! She… She—”

Nathan held a hand up and looked at her sternly, “Stop. Whatever happened, it is Avery’s doing so I am more than positive she’s fine for the moment.”

Harper went to speak again but when Nathan swung his legs over the edge and took a deep breath, she figured it wasn’t the time for questions, only helpful solutions as Avery would say. “I will…run a check through her Aliases…I am sure—”

“Don’t bother, I know exactly where she is.” He smoothed his hair back and checked his watch seeing that he lost about three hours. “Call Mark and get a bag packed. She is in California.”

Harper watched him stand cautiously then walk to his room to disappear inside. If Avery had done this, it could only have been because a handful of reasons. She didn’t trust them to be involved with certain things, and none of the ideas circling in her head were good. Hopefully, that didn’t mean she’d be rash in her decisions. Harper knew better than Nathan when it came to things like this, Avery couldn’t be reasoned with, and Harper prayed this time…it wasn’t one of them.

[…]

Avery checked and rechecked the coordinated. She had no idea what they led to, it was pretty much the middle of nowhere. She took her time and made sure she had all her resources available for this…whatever it was. Buried treasure in the deep thick forests of California. That made her laugh a bit, _leave it to her to literally send me on a treasure hunt._

Avery had what she needed and headed out of her hotel. She had checked out and dumped her things she didn’t need at a goodwill and went on to get a vehicle. It was near the southern edge of the West coast and Avery certainly wasn’t going to walk.

Once she rented a cart she passed an old payphone and patted a pocket for some change. She was pretty sure if Harper came home to find Nathan, she’d be worried, and it had already been a day of her ‘missing’. She pulled out a quarter or two and dialed Harper’s number as she checked her watch. Harper would try her hardest to triangulate her location and she couldn’t let that happen.

“Avery?! Avery please tell me that’s you!” Harper yelled on the other end of the line and Avery took a breath.

“Yeah Harp…It’s me, and yes I am fine, I should be home tomorrow. Had something—”

“Don’t you dare give me that. You drugged Nathan then what? Skipped town? What are you doing? You could have told me you needed to do something, I could have helped you, supported you.”

Avery checked the time and sighed, “I…I don’t know why Harper just…It’s okay…I am being carful and I will be home tomorrow. I- I love you okay.”

Harper went to say a million other things but before she could the line went dead. She knew logically Avery would keep her word, but she just never had a good feeling of her being alone, and Nathan sensed that. He always did. “We will find her before she does something idiotic. I promise. Avery is not the only one with tricks up her sleeve.” Harper looked at him then smiled when he passed her a tablet with a blink red dot on it. “I put a tracker on her before she shot me. She has yet to notice.”

“You Detective Price are something else.”

[…]

Avery scanned the area again and again for signs of anything out of place. She kept to the shadows of the late afternoon and made sure her gun was out and loaded incase something was amiss. She didn’t expect any trouble because only three people in this world knew about this and the other two were dead. She checked her six again and shrugged off the weird feeling of being watched. _Can never be too careful right?_

She pulled up her small compact GPS system she had and waked further into the dense woods. She couldn’t deny it was beautiful this time of year, luscious green trees that were taller than some skyscrapers, the fresh air, and most importantly…the silence. This was a place she could actually hear herself think. _Maybe that’s why they picked here; I certainly would have._

After another mile or so on foot she came across a stunning waterfall that led deeper into the forest. If her navigation system was correct it was located at the top, and that was exactly where she wanted to go.

She cracked her knuckles and look up as she reached the base of the bluffs and smiled. If there was one thing Avery loved to do it was climb, and this cliff was perfect. Smooth surface, nice handholds, and plenty of room to move. She smiled and rolled her shoulders before getting to work. Usually she had guidewire, but she enjoyed the thrill of free soloing this time. The cliff was an easy climb and not too high. She had water to the side so if she was starting to feel herself fall, she could try to push off that way. It was riskier but none of that mattered, she was a very experienced climber.

She climbed higher and higher before getting to a clear spot to rest her arms a moment. Avery knew there was a path up the side to the top but what’s a little adventure, right?

Once Avery finally gripped the top, she pulled herself up and rolled over the edge exhausted. That wasn’t an extremely challenging climb, but she hadn’t done that much physical activity in months, and she loved every minute of it.  
  


“Looks like you’ve gotten a bit out of shape Ave…” She stilled when she heard that voice, that horrible, dream tormenting voice. Avery scrambled to her feet then hit the edge of the tall cliffside she just conquered. “Well look at that boys…She doesn’t look all that happy to see me.”

“What are you doing her Chase…How did you? You can’t possibly—”

“Possibly know about your seven-year search for a worthless engraved *compass*. Avery Avery Avery…. You always seem to underestimate me…” Chase snapped his fingers and his five extra goons moved in. He had the upper hand in this situation, and he loved it, until she pulled her gun on them.

Avery managed to shoot one guy before another massively large man took her down to the rocks below. There wasn’t much struggling on her part as he separated the gun from her grip and Chase snapped it up. “Still using darts, I see. I mean I guess I’d be afraid to kill people too after I killed my father.”

The goons wrestled her face down and secured her arms tightly behind her back and her ankles together as she yelled and fought the best she could, but against three large men, there was no use. “You don’t know anything about me!”

Chase couldn’t help but laugh at that, “Oh do I not? You are my sister after all, I know you better than your little sidekicks. Speaking of them, where are they? Didn’t tell them you were searching for you dead mother’s most prized possession?”

“Shut up! Y-you don’t…You don’t know anything!” Avery said that more to reassure herself than anyone. Her psychotic brother, if that’s what you’d call him, couldn’t possibly know anything real about her.

“Right, because I didn’t get you a false lead that sent you across country. The letter was a nice touch wasn’t it? A bit of magic to keep you interested.” He smiled at her as she was pulled off the ground and separated from her stuff. “I have waited a long long time for this. You…you were the cause of all my problems.” Chase walked a little closer to her, “And now, after all this time…I’ll finally have my revenge.”

[…]

Nathan and Harper had been tracking and following Avery all day. They landed the night she pulled the heist and barely missed her before she travelled south. They didn’t know her plan after that but Nathan assumed whatever she stole led her that way, he’s chased her long enough to know that her mission was far from over.

“Look her signal as stopped…” Nathan said handing over the tablet he had synced to the tracker. He figured she reached wherever her destination was.

Harper glanced over then pulled up satellite footage of trees, lots and lots of trees. “Well I have no visual so hopefully this isn’t a wild goose chase.” Nathan nodded as he floored it and tried to get there faster.

It didn’t take them long to find her vehicle and he pulled off too and grabbed his favorite gun and a few other things. “You stay here, and I will go after her, call me if something happens or she gets past me and comes back here.” He loaded a gun and handed it to her, “Use it if you have to.” His guns were always loaded, with real bullets.

Harper held her hand up to take it but shook her head, “Nate…I- I can’t…I don’t even know how—”

He forced it in her hand, “Point and shoot, simple. This is the safety, here is the trigger. It’s just for protection okay…I will be back in no time.”

Harper gripped it with a shaky hand and nodded, “O-okay…go get her and hurry back. Please.” She watched him flash a smile then take off into the woods, Nathan could be very scary when he wanted to be.

The woods were Nathan’s comfort zone and with the tracker it was smooth sailing to find her. Avery was only a quarter mile ahead and Nathan knew he would at least get to the tracker even if it wasn’t connected to Avery. When he double checked the tablet but it glitched and he heard a scream, and it wasn’t just any kind of scream, it was Avery’s.

He took off running the direction as he fumbled with his phone dialing Harper, she picked up instantly, “I think I found her, have the car ready…No…shit have the car ready Harper!” When he saw a backpack fly from the cliff into the freezing waters where he was, he was certain it was Avery.

“N-nathan wait what is it? What are you see—” Harper gripped the gun tighter as Nathan hung up.

Now they both knew this wasn’t a good situation.

[…]

“Revenge?! He was a monster! You are a m—” She scream before the back of Chase’s hand cut her off.

“Don’t you _dare_ call my father that! I don’t know what he saw in you, you are weak, soft, _pathetic_. I tried to show him you weren’t ready and he didn’t believe me, he never did.”

Avery set her jaw and looked at him as she was dragged backwards, “He never listened to you because you were a pawn. You were a tool and you sure as hell still are one.”

She knew she screwed up as soon as the words left her mouth, but she meant them. Chase wasn’t blood, her father might have loved him maybe but never in the ways he needed it. Avery couldn’t even prepare herself before a fist connected with her jaw snapping her head to the side. The shear force knocked her out instantly and Chase shook off the pain and waved his hand away, “Do it.”

[…]

Nathan couldn’t move fast enough up the side of the cliff. He tried to come up behind them all and get to Avery, but that argument was progressing faster than he thought he could move, then he saw it. His eyes widened as he watched Avery go limp and that bastard turn to see Nathan running will speed at him, but before Nathan could get to him, the protection he brought along dragged Avery to the rapids and tossed her unconscious form over the side like a simple bag of flour at a mill. He didn’t even blink before changing course.

Chase though couldn’t let him save her, not this time, “Stop him!” He yelled before taking off in the opposite direction. Chase had always been a coward, but the men he hired, not so much.

One tried to take Nathan to the ground, but he was able to reverse the attack and send him rolling down the side. The other guy was quick about grabbing Nathan from behind allowing the only other man left to get a few hits in. He knew he was running out of time so he quickly threw his head back, breaking his captors nose then he pulled a leg up an kicked the other man away. Once he was free, he took off to the edge Avery was thrown off of and jumped. The rapid were not terribly fast but will all the time he wasted Avery could be further down the river than he was able to get it. 

When he leaped, he didn’t even think about how deep the water was but when he hit; it took his breath away. Nathan paddle hard to the surface and broke the surface looking frantically for Avery. He called for her and swam as fast as her could to get to where he thought she was and right before he lost all hope, he saw her washed up on the bank.

Nathan didn’t think he could move any faster than he did right then to pull her off the rocks and mud. “Avery…Avery…Shit.”

He drug her out of the water and pulled the roped binding her before checking for a pulse. “No no no…” Nathan pushed the hair out of her face and started chest compressions. He couldn’t count the times he’s done this exact thing, but he couldn’t think of that right now. “Avery if you don’t…breathe…” He tilted her head back and breathed warm air into her lungs, then repeated, again and again.

It felt like time was going on forever and there was no sign of Avery coming back around, “Don’t do this to me… to _us_ …we need you _I_ need you.”

He slammed a fist down on her chest and started again, “Breathe dammit!”

As soon as he yelled the words her lungs heaved, and water came pouring out of her mouth. Nathan slumped in relief as he rolled her on her side. He honestly thought he lost her, but he knew that was never an option.

He placed his head against her back to listen to her lungs and checked her airway when she leveled out her breathing. She was so pale and blue, shivering like she’d been left out in the cold, “I got you Avery…You are going to be okay…” He looked around again seeing if there were in danger and patted her back. He knew he needed to get them both warm and somewhere safe fast, “We are going to need to go Ave…” He carefully sat her up and looked at her carefully and critically. “Avery, look at me.”

She was clearly a bit incoherent as he noticed the bruise along her jawline start to shine. “N-nnat…”

He shushed her and smoothed her hair back, “Just stay with me okay?” He scooped her up in his arms running back towards Harper and the car, and he could already feel his adrenaline faiding. “Avery… just stay awake for me.”

He ran as fast as he could and eventually, he got back to the car and tapped on the window for Harper. His eyes widened as she swung the gun around at him then saw who it was. Nathan knew better than to give her a gun, but right now he was just glad she didn’t shoot them, “Open the door and get in the driver’s seat.” He said slinging the back door open with great effort and sat her down inside.

Harper shook her head, “What? No, I- I can’t drive, you know that!”

“Then you keep Avery awake. You hear me? I need to get these clothes off her and her into something warm now.” He watched her nod frantically as he pulled at Avery’s shirt to come off. “Don’t fight me, you know how this works.” He never slowed as he stripped her down to her undergarments an Harper came around with one of the emergency blankets they kept in the first aid kit. If Nathan wasn’t the man he was they wouldn’t have had that and this situation would be very different.

“Here captain boy scout, I am sure you need this.” Harper said passing it to him before he quickly unfolded it and wrapped Avery in it tightly.

Nathan couldn’t help but stroke her unhurt cheek, “Hey you still with me?”

Avery hummed softly and fluttered her blue eyes open at him and he made sure she was comfortable as Harper slipped in on the other side. Avery was still shivering as Nathan pulled his shirt off as well and Harper carefully scooted closer to Avery so she could get some body heat too.

Nathan wasted no time getting in the driver’s seat and taking off to somewhere they could stay, just where that was, he didn’t know. “You know of somewhere we can go? Hotel probably not the best option.”

Harper nodded and watched Avery before pulling her own tablet out and looked up their location, “We have a property on the coast near San Mateo. It’s not that far, that’s probably the best option.” She said then smoothed Avery’s hair back, “D-do you think we’ll be safe?”

Nathan took a moment and looked back at them, “If I am still breathing, you will always be safe Harper.” He took a deep breath and sped up. He needed to get them home.

[…]

Avery liked how peaceful it was. She could hear the faint sound of the Ocean and birds squawking in the distance. Part of her wondered if she was meditating, it wasn’t like she hadn’t zoned out this much before to put her into another place. She could even feel the sun on her skin.

She was curious what made her delve this deep into her own head space but before she could think on that further, she felt a heavy weight get lifted off her. Then she thought she heard Nathan. It wasn’t normal to hear someone so faintly _this_ deep into meditation. _Am I really thinking about him right now?_ She waited a moment longer then heard Harper apologize softly and take her hand. _No way I am thinking about all this._ Avery tried to picture where she was at, but it was just a lightened dark space she was in. Like she had fallen asleep with the lights on.

Avery took a moment to breathe in the salty sea air when the grip on her hand tightened, “Ave…It’s okay Ave. It’s me, Harper…You are safe now.”

She thought about what that voice had said, _Safe? Safe from what?_ Avery couldn’t remember but she dared to see if this was really all a dream. If it was, it was certainly some dream.

“Hghh..” She croaked out before cracking her eyes open to the soft dim light of the evening. “W-whaa…ppened..?” Her throat felt like desert and she was groggy, like she was only able to wake half herself up.

Harper stood up at that and squeezed her hand a bit more, still careful for it not to hurt, “Oh you’re awake, I was so worried. You were coughing, throwing up all over the place. I-I honestly didn’t know what to do.” She sat her up gently and forced a cup of water in her face, “Here, Nate said to drink a little if you could.”

She groaned softly but didn’t protest as she took a sip or two and blinked more at her to get her eyes to adjust, “W-what…What happened?”

“Oh…you um…don’t remember?” She asked concerned and sat the water down on the nightstand.

“You lied to us and went of some crazy mission that was ultimately a trap. You almost died but were lucky enough that I found you in time.” Nathan said bluntly. “What were you thinking? I thought we were past our trust issues Avery?”

She remembered then, remembered how she shot him and left without saying anything, “I-I’m sorry…It..it was personal.”

“Personal?” Nathan huffed out a breath of air then took a seat, “Then what made it so _personal_ Avery?”

Avery knew she should have told him when it first come up but everything she had ever been taught told her not to trust anyone, especially those that mean more to you than you can say, “I… well…”

“Well?”

“Nathan, give her a moment.” Harper snapped at him.

Avery knew she had to tell them, and she knew they would understand, they always understood. “I thought it was something I had been searching for, well for years. My…my mother had this astrological compass, its not worth that much, but she gave it to me. Before she gave it to me though, she…she died.” Avery couldn’t help but look away. They both knew how important her mother was to her, especially since she always refused to talk about her. “My…Drake sold it, well everything of my mothers at auction a few months after and I’ve been trying to find it ever since but…but I’ve never been able to.”

“So you thought you had a lead, but it was a trap.” Nathan said a little softer.

“Y-yeah…So I guess you know. I also guess I’ll never find it too.”

Nathan sighed and took her other hand carefully, “You don’t have to do everything on your own Avery. We are both here to help you and want to help you. You should have told us.”

Avery looked at him, not knowing if she believed him, but he looked convincing enough. “Y-yeah, I know that now. T-thanks…for…coming after me.”

She watched him smile and kiss the top of her head, “Yeah, just don’t do it again okay?”

Avery chuckled a bit and started to cough frantically, when she eventually stopped Harper gave her more water and Avery looked at them both, “I promise.”


End file.
